Technology designed to blast aliens in computer games is part of the latest GPU (graphic processing unit) computer cluster that will process CSIRO research data thousands of times faster and more efficiently than a desktop PC could.

GPUs aren't just useful for image data but are good for many big science challenges processing petabytes of data and more very quickly. Speeds of 30 to 70 times faster than CPUs are common and using GPUs to analyse complex research data is becoming a global trend in computing.

CSIRO's GPU cluster will be used for research in advanced materials, cloud computing, data and visualisation tools, genetics and more, including:

- figuring out where tiny fragments of genetic code sit on a genome- 3D reconstruction of medical images from the Australian Synchrotron- modelling the interactions between nutrients and plankton in the oceans.